A battery cell has been proposed as a clean, efficient and environmentally responsible power source for an electric device such as an electric vehicle, for example. Typically, a plurality of individual battery cells such as lithium-ion battery cells, for example, is provided to supply an amount of electric power sufficient to operate the electric device. The plurality of individual battery cells must be physically supported and protected, as well as be in electrical communication with each other and the electrical device. Further, it is often desired to provide cooling to the battery cells during a charging and a discharging thereof and venting to the battery cells to exhaust gasses, liquids, and solids that may be discharged therefrom.
A battery pack assembly is typically provided to support and protect the plurality of battery cells and facilitate placing the battery cells in electrical communication with each other and the associated electrical device. The battery pack assembly will often provide a cooling system to militate against undesirable overheating of the battery cells and a venting system to exhaust gasses, liquids, and solids that may be discharged from the battery cells. To provide such desired electrical communication, cooling, and venting, a complexity and cost of the battery pack assembly is undesirably increased.
Additionally, it is desirable to mechanically and electrically connect adjacent individual battery cells with each other with a low electrical resistance connection, on the order of 30 micro-Ohms. It is also desirable to provide a voltage sensing lead from each terminal of the individual battery so that electrical hardware can measure and adjust (via cell balancing) the voltage of each cell. Further, it is desirable to produce a battery pack assembly for housing a plurality of battery cells, wherein an ease of manufacturing the battery pack assembly is maximized and a cost thereof is minimized.